Trapped
by GeekyDollie
Summary: Elizabeth stayed behind so that they could be saved... it was exactly what she was afraid of. JohnElizabeth


**Title: Trapped  
Author:** GeekyDollie  
**Date:** October 2007  
**Rating:** G

**Summary:** Elizabeth stayed behind so that they could be saved... it was exactly what she was afraid of. (J/E)

**Spoilers:** 4x01:Adrift, 4x02:Lifeline

**Disclaimer:** Stargate Atlantis and the characters belong to TPTB of the Stargate franchise.

* * *

Elizabeth could feel him near her. It was just a presense, a familiar feeling, but he was there nonetheless. She squinted in the dim room, hoping for more light so she could see him properly. To her right was a screen. She reached out to touch it and felt the sterile smooth plastic under her fingers. She could only make out the backlit silhouette of her hand in this illumination. 

He was in the shadow beyond. She could see a diffuse figure wavering on the surface as she moved her hands across the barrier. Perhaps if she reached far enough, she could touch him.

"Elizabeth?" his voice was disembodied and strange. Yet, she recognized the familiar way he said her name and stilled her movements.

"I'm here." She called out to him softly. Waiting. She saw his shadow focussing as he approached.

"Elizabeth?" He was standing directly in front of her now, she was certain. She watched his shape move on the screen. Then she saw the shape of his hand pressing into the pliant surface searching for her. "Where are you?"

"I'm here!" she called again more desperately this time. She moved to the imprint of his hand. Her body trembled with excitement or relief, she wasn't sure which. When she put her hand up to his, his hand froze. The plastic sheeting prevented them from actually touching, but she could feel the warmth of his fingers permeating the screen. Despite the paper-thin separation, both tried to make contact as closely as possible.

"Elizabeth, where are you?"

"I... I don't know. I'm in a room. It's dark." she looked around.

"What do you see around you?"

"A bed - metal frame. A chair... I don't know. It's so dark." she squinted to make out the details. "Or maybe none of it."

"What?"

"Maybe it's an illusion. It's not real." Elizabeth tried not to give into the gnawing sense of panic washing through her. She wanted so much to be more helpful, but she couldn't.

"Elizabeth, it's okay, just tell me what's going on."

"I can't..." the backlit screen was obscuring the objects in the dim light around her, but she refused to venture back into the room lest she lose contact with him through the screen.

Suddenly, she froze. Her head whipped towards the door located in the far corner, listening intently. She was sure she heard footsteps.

"Someone's coming." she whispered.

"Who?"

"Help me." she furiously scanned the room for an exit - a window, a gap in the screen, anything - to allow her to leave before the owner of the footsteps came to the door.

"What's going on?"

"They're coming. Help me." she urgently felt along the edge of the plastic with her free hand to try to find an opening.

"How, Elizabeth. I'm here, but you need to tell me what to do."

"I don't know how. Please, get me out of here, ..." his name caught in her throat at the last moment. She refused to say it in case it could be used against her. _They_ could hear everything she was saying, she was sure of it.

The footsteps sounded louder. Closer. Elizabeth started to claw at the plastic. She pressed her fingers against his hand desperately trying to find him.

"Elizabeth, tell me what to do."

"Please. Help me." Elizabeth's body shook uncontrollably. She saw the glint of the doornob turning before frantic tears filled her eyes. A cold shiver rising in her spine, she began to pound her fists against the barrier.

Her companion's hands searched for her unsuccessfully. Losing contact, she wondered if she had felt him there at all.

"Get me out of here. Get me out..."

She glanced back toward the far corner. As she saw a widening sliver of light in the yawning edge of the door, her voice rose into a scream. The sound of her nails scraping against the plastic sheet were deafening in her ears.

Illusion or not, she intensely wanted him, her companion from the shadow, now. Even if it was just a vision from her confusion, she wanted that small comfort.

But she knew she couldn't. She couldn't reveal his face even in her imagination.

She would not allow _them_ to know her weakness. No matter how much it tore at her soul, no matter how much her heart required it, she had to deny herself the luxury to even call out his name.

oOoOo

John sat up with a start and ripped the electrodes from his forehead. Rodney jumped up to recover them before they pulled out of his laptop on the table.

"Did you find her?" Rodney blurted out as medics rushed to John's side.

John's eyes were haunted as he focused on him and then at his teammates beyond.

"No," He jumped off the medical cot urgently, "but I saw her. She's out there, and I need to find her."


End file.
